[ad_1]
DUE to its repeated failure to submit the results of the Covid-19 test, the Department of Health (DOH) revoked the license of an RT-PCR laboratory.
The Undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire, also revealed that four other laboratories face a possible revocation for the same violation. She refused to name these labs.
Likewise, Vergeire reported a 5 percent decrease in the number of positive daily cases in recent days due to two reasons: the labs were no longer operational and few patients were seen in the Covid-19 labs.
From 36,000 submissions by the labs, the number dropped to 22,000 this holiday season.
As of January 4, 2021, the number of Covid-19 cases in the country increased to 478,761.
Increase in the number of cases
However, Vergeire warned that they expect the number of cases to increase in mid-January.
“We hope that, if and when, this increase would happen maybe in mid-January,” Vergeire said in an online media forum.
“I hope not, but in case they find him there [Hope it will not happen but if ever, we expect the cases to increase by that time]”Vergeire said.
DOH reminded the public to be cautious when interpreting these figures, as an increase in cases is still possible in the coming weeks.
DOH continues to assess the extent of the Christmas season’s effects on the transmission of Covid-19. DOH calls on all stakeholders to be vigilant to avoid complacency in the fight against Covid-19.
An additional 959 cases were recorded Monday with an additional 26 recoveries and six deaths.
Of the total number of cases, 4.4 percent (21,219) are active, 93.6 percent (448,279) have recovered, and 1.93 percent (9,263) have died.
Three labs were unable to submit their data to the Covid-19 Data Repository System on January 3, 2021.
